Islam on Trial?

“Not much spreads fear and bigotry faster than a public official intent on playing the politics of division. On Thursday,

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)

Representative Peter King, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, is scheduled to open a series of hearings that seem designed to stoke fear against American Muslims.”

So begins the editorial in yesterday’s New York Times. Read it in its entirety here.

Over the years, specific religions, races and ethnic groups have been singled out for discrimination and more in America. You are probably aware that Rep. Peter King (R-NY), the new chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, has scheduled hearings on the dangers posed by Muslim Americans. (Apparently, we are “less American” because of the color of our skin or our modest attire.)

Check out the Times Union editorial about this today (Wednesday, March 9).

There was a trend at today’s hearings that I hope continues: where person after person noted that these hearings are a farce, with King scowling (and probably plotting his next novel where one brave Congressman has to fight popular opinion in order to protect them from themselves).

These hearings are not rooted in any real concern from the Intelligence Community or the White House. It’s a foolish fantasy of a foolish man, and I can only hope that it’s exposed as such.

After learning more about this man King and his background I can only say that I think this man is dangerous to all of us. He has his own agenda it seems, and I’m more than skeptical of his motivations. However, putting this man aside, the conversation of the radicalization/extremism of certain parts of our population, especially the youth, is one that I feel is important and needs to be addressed. I can’t help but feel if these “hearings” were motivated and presented that way it wouldn’t have created the firestorm it has. At risk of saying the unpopular, once the discussion is opened it will inevitably lead to a further discussion of the fairly new phenomena of radical young American Muslim men seemingly at war with fellow Americans. To say it isn’t happening is to ignore the elephant in the room.
To reitterate, I think this King guy is a kook, and I don’t like how he seems to want everyone to pick sides. It should never be about that. We need to find solutions to these new problems together. I also think he’s started us talking, and I have to at least give him that.

“At risk of saying the unpopular, once the discussion is opened it will inevitably lead to a further discussion of the fairly new phenomena of radical young American Muslim men seemingly at war with fellow Americans. To say it isn’t happening is to ignore the elephant in the room.”